Sister act...queens of country back to rock their UK roots
ALREADY stars in Nashville, the queens of British country music are about to embark on a UK tour.
While sisters Lizzy and Catherine Ward-thomas have made America’s Music City a second home, they are looking forward to playing for UK fans, from Glasgow to Bath, on the back of an acclaimed fifth album.
The duo began life on a Hampshire farm and their big break came at sixth form college.
“Our singing teacher loved our harmonies, she thought they were country sounding,” Lizzy said.
“She’d been a session singer in Nashville and asked if she could send our song Footnotes to her contacts there. The next thing we knew we were on the plane flying to Tennessee. We were 17…”
Now 28, Lizzy recalls: “We thought Nashville would be a dirt track, but it’s a very cosmopolitan city. We love the vibe. Everyone you meet – your waitress, the person on the supermarket check-out – is probably a better guitarist or singer than you are.”
They recorded their debut album, From Where We Stand, in their A-level year. Released in 2014, it shot to the top of the UK country charts. Major labels sat up and took notice. Sony signed them and their 2016 album Cartwheels made the duo the first British country act to score a UK Number One.
When James Blunt wanted a country flavoured duet on his 2019 song Halfway, the girls got the call. They played Glastonbury last year and the London leg of the
C2C country festival this weekend.
Little seems to phase the sisters, but then music is in their blood: “Our parents were in a band together when we were growing up and our whole upbringing was filled with the music they loved.
“We were always singing together and harmonising. Then a Canadian cousin introduced us to country legends like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and The Chicks.”
They returned to Nashville for their fifth album which has just been released on East West label.
Music In The Madness by
Ward Thomas is out now. For tour details, March 30 to April 18, visit wardthomasmusic.co.uk